“We contacted the leaders of our fraternities and sororities and pulled them into conversations about the dos and don'ts and the expectations we had,” Martin said. “There were those who thought they would have private parties off campus, and promoters in the community who prey on university students and hold these kinds of events, but we met with and developed a strategy in partnership with all the apartment complex managers in the area where our students live in private housing and developed a plan to prevent that from happening. We asked them to report any instance of student gatherings and to call our campus police department to disperse them, and to share the names of student violators.”

"We said, these are the governing expectations around gathering, social distancing and mask wearing and made it very clear to them that we expected them to adhere to them and that there would be consequences if they didn't adhere."

Martin also met with the chiefs of the campus police, the Greensboro Police Department and the university system police.

"We all agreed that we would suffer the same outcome if we don't work together," Martin said.

Still, there were blips.

A group of about 75 first-year students gathered outside near the university's clock tower during welcome week in keeping with an unofficial custom started by students five years ago, after the tower was built.

Student affairs staff were quickly dispatched to break up the gathering, and the university's social media manager followed up with a gentle tweet:

“We get it. We know that college provides a time for social engagement and exploration, but our current situation has changed things a bit. #NCAT remember the privilege of campus life for now, means: Masks are required. Unfortunately, large gatherings just cannot happen.”

Upperclassmen also weighed in social media.

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